


And if I told you how this story ends would you change a step you take?

by x103femke



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: Animals, F/F, Farming Life, Horses, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sheep, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:28:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x103femke/pseuds/x103femke
Summary: Dinah and her mom move to a small town, away from the hectic city that Gotham is. However, this life is very different than both women were used to. She never guessed that this town would care so much for each other, and did not expect she would love the outdoor, farm life but most of all did not expect she would find the love of her life here in this small town.
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Preface

It was five in the morning when Dinah woke up by the sound of her mom entering her room. Today was the day they moved to a smaller village. Her mom had gotten a new job at a small store in the middle of the village. Dinah had not really mind moving, she didn’t have friends in Gotham and the only thing she did had was her job at a club to save money for college. Her boss sucked, so she happily resigned. Her mom promised her a better life in the small town they would move to. 

The day before she packed all her belongings, throwing stuff out that she hadn’t used in years. Due to the fact they lived in a relatively small apartment, it didn’t take long for both of them to move everything in the famous cardboard boxes. Not long after they had put all the boxes in their car, they were on the road to a better life.

Dinah did not know much about the new town they would move to. Only that it was a farmers town, which she wasn’t really sure how she felt about that. The only thing she ever heard about farmers town that it was boring, and often not a lot to do. The town they would move to had one store, a pub and a café. That was it. A whole new world for her. She didn’t particulary mind but also was not very sure about it. She knew her mom moved to Gotham when she was 3 for more anonymity, it wasn’t like everyone knew your name. In small towns like this everyone knows each other. 

The ride to their new home was about 12 hours, when they arrived they were in awe. Their house was decorated with colourful lights. Their house was a big upgrade in comparison to their apartment. They had a big living room, a separate kitchen, two bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, and a beautiful garden. Her mom had complained about the fact she couldn’t tend to a garden in Gotham. 

Outside their house, people had gathered to welcome them into their new town. 

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Her mom looked at her from the driver's seat, “I think this will be a great new start baby.” 

Her mom had wanted to move for a while, saved up enough for years to fulfill her dream. Her eyes filled with tears. 

“We’ll be so happy,” she smiled, wiping away a tear that fell down, and hugged her only daughter.

“We will mom,” Dinah hugged back and whispered,” we will.”

Both of them took a deep breath before they opened the doors of the black car. 

It was a small crowd, nothing crazy. Probably around 8 people. 

  
  


“We wanted to give you a warm welcome miss Lance.” an older man with a dirty yellow paper boy’s hat smiled and shook Dinah’s mom’s hand out of politeness. “My name is Kevin, nice to finally meet you, I am the mayor of this beautiful town.”

“Thank you for your warm welcome mayor,” Dinah’s mom looked at her, “this is my daughter Dinah.” She extended her arm for Dinah to join the conversation.

“Hey Dinah, we are happy to have you here, this town could use some younger people like you.” He laughed and shook her hand. “I have asked some people to help you move boxes and furniture to make your move-in easier.” He explained why the rest of the town was gathered around their house.

  
  


“We really appreciate that Kevin thank you so much.” Her mom was more than happy to not have to lift those heavy boxes again. 

One young man stepped forward, he had hazel eyes, black hair, and a small but muscular posture. It looked like he was the youngest of the whole group. The others probably being above 40 years, where Dinah was 23. 

“Hi, my name is Pino,” not hiding his enthusiasm, “I am really glad we finally have a younger person here, my sister and I are basically the only one.”

“Hi, Dinah,” telling him what her name was, “thanks, I almost aspected that I would be the only young person here,” she told him smiling shyly.

Dinah looked at her mom, seeing that she already felt comfortable, and had a full conversation about coffee with one of the women who joined the mayor to help them.

“Let me help you,” Pino took one of Dinah’s bags and walked with her into the house.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” they both stepped into the house, which for now was long white walls and very bare. “How long have you lived here?” Dinah asked, wanting to start a conversation.

“Oh, my sister and I have lived here all our life, we have a big wine yard, and my sister herds sheep and trains horses, and yeah I basically do all the paper stuff and take care of crops when I have to,” He looked at her and smiled, “you should visit us, maybe we can have some young people time,“ he stuck his tongue out.

“I would love to, “ she laughed at him, not knowing that from now on her life would change drastically.


	2. Chapter 1

Small rays of sun, filled the room, Dinah was drooling peacefully on her pillow. The first day she woke up in her new house, her new home town. Not used by the silence, the absence of the busy road she used to live next to.

Dinah and her mom had decided that they would take a couple of days to settle in. They were offered help from all over the town when it came to moving in. Their now new neighbors being overly excited about the new folks. Most of their stuff was already there, they only had to take some trips to IKEA for some closets and a comfy couch.

The woman that lived in their house before them was a lovely lady, being a kindergarten teacher. She had died of old age, a sad loss by many people of the town. She was well known, especially by the then younger children who would come to her during Halloween. She had kept the house in good condition, her younger son often helping her out. He had sold the house, not wanting to live a quiet life, to Dinah's mom and left them two, two person's beds and some other basic furniture. Not exactly the Lance family's style but it did the job.

Dinah woke to the amazing smell of pancakes and coffee that came from the kitchen downstairs. Her mom, always being an early riser, decided to make the first day of their new life, a day to remember. Both ladies wanted to make a new start and the best way to do that is with freshly brewed coffee and delicious blueberry pancakes. 

Dinah got out of bed and opened her curtains. Her room looked at a massive field filled with wheat and behind that a forest of mostly pine trees. 

The house was close to the small store her mom got the job offer from. In this part of the town the people who lived here weren't farmers. There were a blacksmith and a carpenter neighboring them. The woman who spoke with Dinah's mom had a small garden center. So the town had some life to it, surrounding towns were as small as theirs. The nearest is an hour away.

Dinah went down the wooden stairs in her cutesy Stich onesie her mom got her for her twentieth birthday. Following the delicious smell that came out of the kitchen, Dinah saw her mom dancing in front of the stove. She has not seen her mom this happy in a while, moving really was the best choice.

She walked into the kitchen and gave her mom a kiss on her cheek.

“Goodmorning baby, how was your first day here?” Her mom pointed at the chair at the little kitchen bar where she had put a pancake for Dinah on a plate, “here eat well, I thought you might want to do some exploring in this town.” 

She kissed her daughter on the crown of her head and sat down next to her. “I really hope we can grow happier here Dinah,” Her mother looked at her with emotions in her eyes. “we both deserve it.”

Dinah could only nod, seeing how relaxed her mom now looked in comparison to when they were still in Gotham. The city had really taken a toll on both of them.

“The owner of the café near the store I am working at told me that if you would like she could offer you a job.” Her mom tried to cheer up the mood. 

“Oh thanks, I will look into it,” she answered with a mouthful of pancakes. “I was wanting to explore the town a bit, maybe have a walk in the forest.” 

“I thought you wanted to,” her mom took her plate, that was now empty, to the sink, “I asked Lisa from the garden center to come by and give us some advice for the garden, but I know you probably don’t really care.” She laughed and put the plates in the dishwasher.

“Yeah, sorry mom I really don’t.” she gave her mom a hug, “you can do whatever, but I do really want a hammock in the garden for summer, that is the only thing.”

“Sure, I can live with that.” Her mom stuck her tongue out and Dinah decided to finally get going. Showering quickly, changing her comfortable onesie into a more suitable outfit for being outside. As smart as she is, she bought hiking shoes before she moved to the town.

* * *

Her ride to the forest was very uneventful, she passed some massive fields with crops and sheep. She admitted to herself she needed to adjust to the change of scenery more than she thought. When she parked in the parking lot near the forest she was very certain this change wouldn’t take long.

During her walk she picked up berry’s, having a special app on her phone telling her whether or not she could eat them. She felt at peace, massive pine trees surrounding her, the wind blowing through them spreading the lovely scent that came from the little needles of the trees. 

She heard hoove steps behind her, turned around, and saw a massive horse standing behind her. It had long black manes, fur even darker, it let out a big sigh making Dinah giggle at the sight. On its back sat a tall muscular woman with chin-length hair. 

“Oh, hey, sorry, “ she said awkwardly, petting her horse on its neck, “uh, normally there aren’t really people here.”

The woman had deep hazel eyes where Dinah got lost in for a moment.

“You’re new here aren’t you?” the deep voice got her out of her trance, “Dinah?”

Now it was her time to stutter. “Uh, yeah, h-how do you know?”

“Pino told me,” she jumped off her horse, patted it on its neck when it decided to look at its owner, “he is my brother,” 

“Haha, yeah Pino was very happy to have some new people here,” the woman only seemed taller when she stood next to Dinah, “he couldn’t shut up for a good hour, very annoying.”

“That seems really like something he would do, yeah.” Dinah looked at her feet, feeling shy.

“Where are you from?” the woman took the reins over the horse’s head.

“Oh Gotham, the big city.” she smiled looking around, “I didn’t catch your name, sorry.”

“It’s Helena, Helena Bertinelli.” She didn’t look very comfortable, shifting her weight from feet to feet. “do you like it here so far?” she tried to start a conversation.

“Yeah, its, quieter, “she told her, lost in thoughts, “but yeah I think I like it more, still have to get used to the fact that almost everyone knows each other.” she giggled and looked at the path ahead, “would you like to walk together?”

“Sure, I don’t have anything to do at the moment anyway,” the hazel eyes looked at Dinah with a little glimmer in them, “it’s been a while since I have seen someone else than my brother.”

“Really,” Dinah looked at her surprised while they were walking further, the horse following them like a puppy.

“Yeah, I am better with animals than people,” Helena looked ahead, almost as if she was thinking, then smiled at Dinah, “they all know here so it’s fine.”

“Have you always lived here?” 

“Born into it,” she looked at her horse, ‘my parents died at 19, I am older than Pino, so I had to take over the farm rather quickly but I always loved helping out.” Helena realized she had maybe said too much, she was head over heels for the new girl in town but didn’t really know how to handle this due to the lack of communication skills. “Sorry I didn’t want to..” Dinah didn’t let her finish her sentence.

“Oh, it’s okay don’t worry,” Dinah brushed it off, “if you’ve been here all your life maybe you could show me around someday?” she turned around, looked at her with a mischievous smile, maybe, just maybe she had the same feelings as Helena felt.

“S-sure, we could start at the café, somewhere tomorrow?” Helena stuttered not really knowing how to react. “Or, maybe you could come to the farm so I can finish up somethings before?”

“I could help, wouldn’t be that hard right?” 

That just made Helena laugh. “If you want the real experience, be at the farm at 6.” Helena turned her horse, looking at Dinah before she went into the saddle.

“In the evening?” Dinah had no idea what she exactly meant.

“Nope, in the morning,” she giggled and jumped up. “Be there!” she looked at Dinah to make sure she heard that and galloped away.

“Not fucking 6 in the morning!” Dinah said, more to herself than to Helena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to upload every week either on Sunday or before
> 
> Leave feedback, please! This really helps me improve my stories and writing!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	3. Chapter 3

Dinah held her promise, a little bit annoyed but she made it at six sharp. She saw Helena come out of the door of the house, a black and white dog running around, that was next to two dark green massive stables. Helena wore a Carhartt beanie and overall, high black boots, which were already dirty, and a thick coat. It was at the end of autumn, and this day particularly had strong winds.

Behind Helena, Pino came out of the door wearing almost the same outfit.

“Well, Dinah, I did not expect you to actually come when Helena told me she would give you a tour,” a laugh escaped his mouth, “but I am happy to see you.” he hit her on her arm, “you might want to wear something else though.” 

“Yeah, that might be a good idea,” Helena added, kind of looking lost, she has never been really good at the whole socializing thing, “I have some clothes but they might be a little too big for you.”

“Didn’t the last intern leave an overall because she grew out of it?” Pino turned around and walked towards the house,” You give her a tour Helena I’ll look for it.” 

Helena only nodded and walked towards the stable. Dinah almost had to run because of the big steps she took.

The first barn was big and noisy. There were two rows of sheep and lambs. The lambs were having the zoomies running back and ford the long row. It was a very open stable with a high ceiling. In the front, there was a tiny shed that had hoses attached to little holes for the lambs to get milk.

“Yesterday the lambs got to those hoses and it leaked milk all over the place,” Helena explained pointing at said hoses, “took me all morning to clean that up and it turned into a fucking ice rink due to the freezing temperatures.”

“That must have been a shitty job then.” Dinah looked at Helena grinning at her imagination of how that would have looked like. An angry Helena cleaning up a big puddle of milk.

“Yeah, so I decided to wean them off now, they are old enough anyways,” They walked in between the rows, “Umm, we have to feed first, hench the loud blaring.” a small giggled followed.

“Tell me what to do and I’ll try it.”

“Sure, I doubt you will be able to, but sure.” Helena challenged.

“Hey, I am very capable of doing this, you see I go to the gym.”

“That means nothing here, you should see me shearing the sheep that is a workout on itself, I don't even need to go to the gym.” she walked to some small silo thing that actually is a mixer. “Also you are shivering so yeah, one point behind.”

“Hey, I did not know it would be this cold.” She crossed her arms in protest, watching Helena open the big garage door. “what do you do with that silo thing?” 

“It’s not a silo, it’s a mixer.” a cold breeze came in making Dinah shivering even more “see, two points behind.” Helena took off her coat seeing Dinah shiver so much, “take this, put it on, I don’t want you to get cold Pino always takes his time anyway.” 

“Aww, you do care,” Dinah said obviously joking but it still resulted in a confused face from Helena.

“Anyway, I will get the Bobcat and then we’ll feed sheep before you freeze to death.” Helena came in with a heftruck looking machine but with a big bucket at the front, she had hay looking stuff in the bucket and poured it into the mixer together with pallets. The mixer poured it into a different truck that looked more suitable to go in between the rows. 

“Okay so, you can drive right, I’ll show you how I do this and if you want you can do the other row.” she got onto the truck, pulled Dinah with her so they both stood close to each other on the small platform. “So what you want to do is make sure that the mix actually gets in the food part and not on the floor 'cause I hate cleaning up." 

Dinah awkwardly looked at how Helena was driving and at the same time making sure she didn't spill anything. She could feel the heat radiating off of Helena, almost wanting to get even closer for the heat or maybe something else. Before she could drift off they came to a halt. 

“Okay, you try,” immediately missing the heat after Helena jumped off, she pouted unintentionally. “what?” the question came from the farmer.

“You’re warm, and I am not.” Dinah made up quickly, “so yeah.”

“Huh,” Helena did not really buy it, “did you pay attention?”

“Yeah,” she smiled sheepishly (pun), “kinda.” She looked at the sheep and then to the truck, “should be easy right?” 

“Right, just don’t cause any accidents.” Helena rolled her eyes, “peddles are the same in a car, unless you drive manually.” a small I don’t, that’s hard came from Dinah. “and make sure that it gets in the feeder.” 

“Aren’t you going to be on the thing with me?” Dinah tried to convince the taller woman to share some more of her warmth.

“Well, you wanted the full experience right?” a slow smile appeared on Helena’s face as if she tried to plan something. 

“Well, uh, t-that is not what I said exactly but,” Dinah stuttered in protest, not sure what to do.

“Just kidding, kind of,” Helena tried to joke, “don’t worry there isn’t much you can’t do wrong, just try it.” 

Dinah actually enjoyed it, slowly pushing the gas and in the meantime making sure the pellets got into the feeder. She watched the sheep quickly run towards her, blaring in happiness being fed. Behind the older sheep lambs raced back and forth, some jumping up in the air, looking stupidly cute. Helena looked at her, matching Dinah’s smile.

“See it isn’t that hard, the hardest part still has to come.” 

Dinah went on for a few minutes while Helena was checking the lambs and took down the hoses for the lamb, also feeding them. The lambs had their own little space so they couldn’t be bothered by their moms, they had to get through smaller holes to get there. Helena looked at Dinah who seemed to have a really good time surprisingly.

“Okay I think I am done.” Dinah jumped off the Bobcat. “what can I do now.’ 

“Yeah you seem to do fine!” Helena tried to compliment. “We’ll go to the other barn, there aren’t sheep in there but the horses also need to eat.”

“What animals do you have, I don’t think I’ve asked that.” Dinah just realized.

“Sheep, horses and a dog, that’s pretty much it,” Helena hesitated for a moment, öh and also mice, but that is involuntary, they aren’t paying rent or something.” Helena wasn’t very social, let alone being good with jokes but she pulled it off.

“Yeah, I never understood people who keep mice as pets.” Dinah laughed at the awkwardness that Helena was experiencing.

They came into the other barn, being greeted by some neighing. “So the horses for me are more of a hobby, both Pino and I love riding and well we fell in love with horses when we were young.” Helena greeted the first horse on the row, the horse she had ridden yesterday. 

“Feeding here is different but you have to be fine with walking into the stables, they can feel when you aren’t sure so don’t worry if you don’t want to, “ the horse decided that Helena’s hair might do for hay in the meantime. “you can pull the cart too, might save some time off.”

“Sure, I would love to try, but maybe a horse smaller than this one.” The horse did look intimidating. 

Helena put some hay and a bucket of pellets on a red trolly and gave Dinah the handle. Helena pulled open the stable door and threw down some hay and some pellets the horse immediately started eating.

The next horse was a smaller bay gelding.

“Would you like to give him his meal?” Helena opened his door. “he is a therapy horse so he is very calm.” 

“Sure, tell me what to do.” Dinah looked at the horse, feeling quite confident.

“Give him about half hay, maybe a bit more of what I gave the other horse and a few pellets.” 

Walking into the stable the horse was very curious who this strange woman was that came in with his food. Sniffing Dinah’s face which resulted in a laughter of the woman he decided she was fine, giving him food she already had one foot in the door of becoming best friends. He patiently waited for her to put his morning meal down, which she did but keeping an eye on him. When she put the food down, the bay waited sniffed Dinah’s hair as a thank you and started eating.

“That sniffing feels funny.” Dinah giggled.

“Yeah it does, it kind of means be my friend,” Helena put hay in the stable next to the gelding Dinah just fed, “or he just really loves your shampoo.”

After feeding the other 7 horses, with Dinah successfully feeding two, they cleaned up both stables. Helena then dragged with a different tractor the big paddock in the stable where the horses were, then putting the horses in there. Pino never really came with other clothes, Dinah kind of happy because the jacket she wore smelled like Helena, just like the horse, she really, really wanted to be friends with Helena. 

After all the morning chores Helena had they ate lunch together, Helena being happy to be done earlier than normal due to the help. Helena kind of went all the way for Dinah, wanting to thank her for her help, while she only ate whole wheat bread with cheese. Pino came in later and got scolded by Helena for never bringing clothes for Dinah, which resulted in a ‘she didn’t seem to need it since you gave her your jacket’. Pino had finished all his chores and took care of some tractors that had some issues and decided to run some errands in the meantime.

“Since we have not much to do anymore, would you like to ride the therapy horse you fed this morning?” Helena asked Dinah in between drinking her milk which resulted in a white mustache.

“You have a mustache,” - what oh,” Helena wiped it off with her sleeve, “but yeah, I have no experience at all.” 

“That’s okay, I will ride him for a while since he needs some training and then after that, you can try.” 

\-----

Helena rode the horse named Guy for half an hour so he got most of his energy out after they put the other horses to one side of the arena so they wouldn't be in the way. He seemed to really enjoy working out and this only got Dinah more excited to try. Never in her life, she thought she would ride a horse. Not that she was afraid of animals but even moving here was a big surprise, a very welcome surprise.

Helena came to a halt to the door of the paddock where Dinah stood. “Your turn,” she was a little out of breath, “but I have a helmet for you, hold Guy, I’ll get it.”

Helena jumped off with ease and walked to a locker that was behind Dinah. Guy decided that Dinah now was a really good scratching pole and rubbed his head against Dinah’s side. 

“Hey Buddy, please do not throw me off when I am on you, you’ll get an extra pellet,” Dinah bribed the horse, “but don’t tell Helena.”

“Here,” all of the sudden said the woman was standing next to her handing her the helmet, “I hope it fits, but just to be sure, I don’t think you’ll fall off, he is a therapy horse after all.” 

“Good, that would be nice.” Dinah stood next to the horse, figuring out how to get on. 

“Put your left foot in the stirrup, and jump up.” Helena explained and Dinah followed. She jumped into the saddle with ease, maybe workout as often as she did help.

“Nice, the first few steps might feel weird but just relax and don’t become a potato bag.”

It did feel weird at first, kind of like going side to side but she soon got into the flow. Both women did not say a word. Halfway Helena stopped the horse. 

“How is it?” she turned around to look at Dinah.

“Weird, but it feels really nice, I almost fell asleep.” A smile formed on her face.

“Would you feel comfortable if,” she didn’t really know how to form words all of the sudden, “ride together?”

“How do you mean?” Dinah had a feeling where this might go.

“I’ll be behind you and lead Guy from there, you can enjoy the ride.” Guy’s forelock somehow became really interesting to Helena.

“Sure, why not.” Dinah said maybe a little bit too enthusiastic, kind of hoping she would feel the warmth that Helena gave off again. Helena jumped up with ease behind Dinah, just sitting behind the saddle that Dinah was on. Dinah embraced the warmth that she had missed since the whole feeding cascade this morning. Helena’s strong arms reached around Dinah’s waist to hold the reins. They walked around, Guy happily carrying both of them, for half an hour. Both of them enjoyed the company a lot until Helena decided they couldn’t stay on the horse forever. They came to a halt, the taller woman jumped off, Dinah missed her already, it seemed like she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. They both looked at each other intensely, Guy deciding it was taking too long snorted out, Dinah almost jumped at the unexpecting sound. Helena held out her hand to help her off.

“Thank you, I never really thought I would ever ride a horse,” did her voice somehow become lower all of the sudden? 

“Yeah, it is amazing,” Helena took off the saddle, “I can teach you if you want, maybe we could ride together then?” 

“I would love that.” Dinah held Guy’s reins and scratched his head.

“I do remember you bribing my horse so maybe you could take care while I bring the other’s in?” Helena led the horse to its stable and gave Dinah a brush, “also the first lesson, here is a brush it’s easy, he will tell you if you brush too hard.” Helena immediately walked away, maybe needing some air.

“Okay Guy, what is up with her?” Dinah kind of expected the horse to answer. She started brushing and soon found out that messing that up is really hard since Guy leaned into the brush a lot for extra scratches. When she decided she was done and saw Helena feeding the horses, she did the same and they were done at the same time.

“So Pino texted me, he already fed the sheep so we are done for today.” Dinah held out her hand for a high five and it took an awfully long time before Helena returned it.

“I never knew this would be so exhausting to be honest.” Dinah confessed and let out a sigh while they walked back to the house.

“We could always plan the café later,” Helena looked at her watch, “it’s closing soon anyway, sorry.”

“Yeah, everything kind of feels like noodles,” Dinah joked, ‘but another time sounds good.”

They came to a halt before the door, Helena turned around.

“If you want you can stay the night, we have extra rooms anyway.” Helena almost didn’t dare to ask, shifting her weight feet to feet.

“Sure I would love to,” Dinah smiled, more than happy, “but I now really need to borrow some clothes.”

“Yeah, I won’t put Pino in charge of that anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I used to work on a farm and mostly did the thing focused on horses so I did not have much to do with the sheep at that farm so I am doing my best. We used to call everything by their brand name so I decided to do that now too, if it is confusing please tell me.
> 
> For inspo I also use Sheepishly Me on youtube who is really awesome: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmVMNXTsmxr1wkaQ5sExJ9A
> 
> Anyway, I appreciate feedback at any time!!!


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning DInah woke up with a warm feeling, last night Helena and she had cooked together. Pino had apologized way too many times about him not bringing her warmer clothes and had therefore made a nice fire to warm her up. The three stayed up playing board games since Pino was tired of getting beat by his older sister. Only for him to get beaten by Dinah too.

The house they lived in was nicely styled in a ranch style with here and there some plants. They had pictures on the walls, older pictures. Dinah couldn’t find one that might have been shot recently. She saw a 12-year-old Helena on Guy waving at the camera. One where Pino stood dangerously on the roof of a tractor looking over the field. One where the family celebrated christmas, a smiling Helena holding up a pair of cowboy boots. One where the mom of the siblings was riding in a, what looked like, competition, face determined like Dinah saw on Helena while she was riding Guy.

They looked like a happy family and Dinah started to wonder what happened. Helena was a closed book, unless she was nervous, and Dinah did not want to push her over the edge. She liked Helena, liked her a lot, maybe even more than she knew. 

Her door opened slightly and she met the hazel eyes that were looking around the corner.

“Hey,” Dinah stretched her arms out, “this bed is really nice, thank you for letting me stay here.” 

“You are welcome, I hope you had a good night,” Helena now dared to move in, Dinah slept when she checked earlier. “There was a big storm this morning so I had to close the screens on the barns, most chores are done so if you would like I can give you your first riding lessons?”

“Sure,” Dinah swung her legs onto the side of the bed, stretching one more time. She did notice that Helena was staring at her legs and shook her head to stop her thoughts, a small smile formed on Dinah's face. 

“It’s 10 o’clock by the way,” Helena mentioned nonchalantly, “I figured you aren’t a morning person after the comments you made the other day.” Helena leaned against the door, watching Dinah getting dressed. 

"Yeah, absolutely not, I do not get how you can get up that early." Dinah wiggled herself into her jeans.

"Well I wanted to give you the full experience, yesterday." Helena looked at Dinah when she held out her hand for a high five.

"Don't leave me hanging." Helena luckily returned the favour, Dinah holding her hand for maybe a little too long while looking into her eyes.

"Breakfast?" Helena broke the contact.

"Breakfast for me, lunch for you probably." They walked down the hall. Past all the pictures, Dinah hesitated to ask anything about it, but decided to do so.

"Did your mom ride in competition?" The question having been in her mind since she saw the pictures.

"Yeah, she rode Guy in eventing competition." A weak smile coming from Helena, Dinah saw some hurt in her eyes, “she was really good and Guy loved it, but yeah…” Helena didn’t finish her sentence.

“Do you ride competition?” they stopped, Dinah looking into Helena’s eyes seeing tears forming.

“Used to, stopped when my parents died.” She wept away the tears with her sleeve and looked at the ground. “I didn’t have the motivation to do it again.”

“Do you still love riding?” Dinah held her hand.

“Yeah, it is like a destresser for me.” Helena played with the rings on Dinah’s finger. “It’s just, my mom loved competitions and she would take me and my brother and it was such an event and everything and now it has been gone for 5 years and it feels so empty and scared.” 

“Welp, if you teach me how to ride, maybe i can beat you.” Dinah didn’t really know how to react to what Helena said, she knew emotions were hard for Helena and her telling this must have been a big step.

A small laugh came from Helena. “Yeah, maybe we’ll see, first breakfast.” 

\-------------

Dinah was surprised when she found out how fast Helena had worked that morning. Almost everything was already finished, only some work for the horses were left.

Dinah’s first lesson was how to lead a horse, she was a bit disappointed they wouldn’t ride, maybe because there was no change that they would both ride with Helena behind her. Guy really was a patient horse. Dinah found out how much body language was necessary for her to move the horses around.

Helena showed what to do with her horse, Dinah found out the name of her horse was Freya. This was not her sport horse but more of a horse where she would do fun rides with, that is how Helena put it.

Well into Dinah’s training Pino came running towards them, shouthing Helena’s name. 

“Some sheep, I don’t know what it is, come look.” He was out of breath, running from one end of a stable is very exhausting. 

“What are you saying.” Helena gave the rope to Dinah.

“Four sheep, I don’t know what’s wrong, but they collapsed and I can’t get them back up.” Pino tried to explain as well as he could. “They are in the middle of the stable, please look I have no idea.” 

With that Helena ran to the other stable, leaving Dinah and Pino behind. Another sheep has fallen down, panting like a dog when it’s hot, however it was in the middle of winter. Another sheep laid on their side, their legs running in the air. Helena shouted for Pino to come. Both of them tried to get one up but it didn’t work.

“I am going to quarantine them, I have no idea Pino.” Helena was already moving fences around so the other sheep wouldn’t interact with the sick sheep.

“It’s weird, they were fine when I fed them like you asked.”

Helena immediately walked towards the feeder, running her hands through the food he had put in there. She saw some weird weeds through the grains.

“Take everything out, make sure they are not eating, I don’t know what this is but it’s not good.”

Dinah had no idea what was going on in the other stable, she had both horses who were drifting to sleep having nothing to do. In the corner of her eye she saw a black figure moving from one end to the other. She looked straight at the spot, shouting at it to identify themself. But the only thing it did was run away.

Dinah left the horses for what they were, hoping they wouldn't cause any more chaos and ran after the black blob. The small hallway led through a big garage door and a smaller door, the creature choosing the latter. 

Outside a black Rolls Royce's engine was running, the passenger door open to function as a getaway car. The creature smashed the door into Dinah's face but Dinah's reflexes were fast enough for it to open again. The creature flew into the car, then drove away, the door still open. It didn't close until they were often the property. Dinah swearing like a sailor, trying to make something of the number plate but barely being able too.

Helena, who also noticed what happened, ran next to Dinah. 

"Did you see something?" The first question came.

"No, they were too fast sorry."

"It's okay, not your fault." Helena let herself down to the ground with a defeated face.

"What the fuck happened." Dinah joined.

"No fucking idea, I called the vet just to be sure, I think they poised the sheep." Helena rested her face in her hands.

"Why?" 

"No fucking idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Nothing is Beta'd so all my mistakes are mine  
> 2\. My internship is more difficult than I thought so I hope to update once in two weeks, maybe more!
> 
> Have a great valentine's!


End file.
